8A -- Thursday, February 24, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com RUNNING OUT OF TIME Badgers bank three at buzzer to thwart upset bid, put 'M' tourney hopes in doubt By ZAK PYZIK Daily Sports Editor For 39 minutes and 54 sec- onds, the Wolverines beat No. 12 Wisconsin last night. In the other six seconds, the Badgers hit a buzzer beater to beat the WISCONSIN 53 Michigan MICHIGAN 52 men's bas- ketball team, 53-52, at Crisler Arena. Wisconsin guard Jordan Tay- lor received the inbound, but after being double teamed, he passed it to teammate and fresh- man Josh Gasser. He banked in a 3-pointer with Michigan guard Stu Douglass's hand in his face to spoil Michigan's upset bid. "We had them," sophomore guard Matt Vogrich said. "We had them for so long. We had momentum. But then something like that happens. It's just not a good feeling, especially when you're that close. It was like what, five seconds?" An upset against Wisconsin was exactly what the Wolverines needed to get onthe bubble of the NCAA Tournament. And with less than a minute remaining, sophomore guard Darius Mor- ris went to the free-throw line with the chance to seal the deal by netting two foul shots on his one-and-one opportunity. But Morris missed his first shot from the charity stripe and the Badgers had possession with about 20 seconds left. With three fouls to give, the Wolverines fouled Taylor on three-straight inbound plays to leave Wiscon- MAX cOLLINS/Daily No.12 Wisconsin celebrates the close win over the Wolverines, who are running out of time to make a tournament run. sin with just 6.9 seconds left - enough time to make one last shot. "The game was coming down to these last few possessions," sophomore guard Eso Akunne said. "Wisconsin's known for shooting solid. We just didn't want to give them (an opportu- nity) to get an uncontested shot." "Gasser took it out, (freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr.) was guarding Gasser and I switched with Tim," Douglass said. "Tay- lor was going to go back to his right hand - that's what he likes. He did, I touched the ball, and he just ripped it out and found Gas- ser spaced while I was trying to reach in." After maintaining a comfort- able lead for most of the first half, Michigan went into the locker room at halftime with a 31-30 Your Class of 2011 design here advantage. Two dunks from red- shirt freshman Jordan Morgan, one from Hardaway Jr. and two 3-pointers from Hardaway Jr. gave Michigan all the momen- tum it needed in the first stanza. But halftime doomed the Wol- verines. Though they started with a 3-pointer from Douglass, Wisconsin slowed down the game and exchanged leads with Michigan. The Wolverines shot 35 per- cent from the field in the sec- ond half, which allowed the Badgers to dictate the games tempo and use coach Bo Ryan's offense to its full potential - suck the shot clock dry, score at the buzzer and get offensive rebounds on any misses to kill its opposing team's momentum. Wisconsin shot just 32 per- cent in the second half but outrebounded the Wolverines, 32-30 - the Badgers collected nine offensive boards to Michi- gan's two. "A lot of balls fell in their hands," Vogrich said. "They rebounded, it kind of kills you. They miss a shot and then they rebound and make the next one. We just have to keep our heads up." Using the home crowd to its advantage, Michigan swapped leads with Wisconsin 10 times. The Wolverines stayed in the game until the final minutes but the Badgers found a way to win. Taylor provided the most problems for the Wolverines, recording the game-winning assist and scoring a game-high 20 points. The Wolverines would have taken fourth place with a vic- tory against the Badgers which would theoretically put them on the bubble of an NCAA Tournament postseason. But instead, they fell to seventh place in the conference stand- ings. Michigan takes on Min- nesota on Saturday, hoping to regroup from a devastating loss at the buzzer. "Each time you lose that opportunity (to get into the NCAA Tournament) you've got to beat somebody else to make up for it," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "It comes down to a numbers game a little bit ... close doesn't count." FOR MORE MICHIGAN- WISCONSIN COVERAGE: Log on to michigandaily.com Michigan ans should embrace the pain E mbrace it - that's what The Wolverines held Wis- Michigan coach John consin to 17 points under its Beilein said to his team season average in scoring, near- after the No. ly 10 percent under its shooting 12 Wiscon- percentage and only allowed sin men's the Badgers to get to the line basketball three times, when normally team came they get there 13 times. from behind Embrace the fact that the to beat the 12th-ranked team in the coun- Wolverines, try needed a blessing from God 53-52. and the glass to beat a team Junior CHANTEL that was expected to finish at Stu Doug- JENNINGS the bottom of the Big Ten, but lass sat on clawed its way to the middle of the baseline, the conference. his hands covering his face, his The undersized and less body collapsing to the floor as experienced Michigan post shock rushed through his body. contingent outscored Wiscon- As he relived a nightmare. sin in the paint. Redshirt fresh- Embrace it. man Jordan Morgan dunked Freshman Tim Hardaway twice. Jr. - mouthguard nearly fall- Embrace the fact that two ing out of his mouth, jaw stuck leading scorers - Morgan and open, arms wilted at the side Hardaway Jr. - are first-year of his body - stared without players under Beilein. And thatI* expression as the Badgers sophomore point guard Darius dog-piled freshman John Gas- Morris held his own against ser, whose 3-point bank shot junior point guard Jordan Tay- spelled refuge for Wisconsin. lor, who's the nation's best floor Embrace it. general, statistically. Gasser, the freshman, the kid who averages six points per game (he had five against the Wolverines), the guard that The No. 12 shoots 28 percent from 3-point range, ascending valiantly team needed a from the floor who would later say, "When it left my hand, I blessing from thought it was goingto bank in, and it actually did. God and glass. "So that's pretty funny." Embrace it. "Don't like it, but you gotta use it," Beilein said after the Beilein has said all year that game. "You've gotta use it right this team wants to learn, wants now. They're all going to think to get better. They are nothing, back in the next day, 'Geez, if not resilient. if I would've done this, if I Embrace the fact that all is would've done that,' Well those not lost. The two remaining are probably all things we can games in the regular season do, that as a young team has to feature two squads with top-50 do. Don't use this as a crutch RPI's. Two teams that should right now." be scared to face a team that Last year at the Big Ten will be more hungry than dis- Tournament, when Michigan couraged after that loss. was fighting for a spot in any After the game, the locker kind of postseason play, Ohio room was dead silent. Answers State junior Evan Turner hit were succinct. Eyes were a long 3-pointer over the out- glazed. stretched arms of Douglass to For Minnesota and Michigan beat the Wolverines, 69-68. State, this could very well be That shot ended the careers the quiet before the storm. of DeShawn Sims and Manny Because that 3-point shot, Harris. it ended the season for a Hail Mary over the flailing everyone else. body of Douglass, ended the So what's to embrace? Wolverines' season last year. Embrace the fact that this Michigan won't let it be the team plays well against good one that ends this year. teams. Michigan has yet to beat a ranked opponent, it's 0-6in - Jennings can be reached that category. But it'll get there. at chanjen@umich.edu Win $250 cash. The Alumni Association is sponsoring a T-shirt design competition to celebrate the Class of 2011. The T-shirts will be available at graduation ticket pickup with all proceeds benefiting Welcome Wednesdays, 30-Minute Mentors, Real Life 101 and free memberships for new grads. The deadline to submit entries is Monday, March 21. The prize is $250 cash and your design produced by the Alumni Association. Complete rules and entry details at umalumni.com/classof2011shirt- Facebook.com/AAUMstudents ALUMNI ASSOCIATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MAX COLLINS/Daily Sophomore point guard Darius Morris missed a crucial free throw on a one- and-one opportunity in the final minute of last night's game.